EDITORIAL: Teen excels in spite of troubled upbringing

Such is the case with Drew Gooch, a local student who rose from homelessness to being a valedictorian graduating a year ahead of schedule with a 3.9 GPA and plans to study pre-law at Middle Tennessee State University.

While he doesn't publicly discuss much of the situation with his family, Gooch moved out of his house as a teenager. He found a job at McDonald's, took online home-school classes and slept on friends' couches or on some nights in his car. He bounced from Oakland High to Siegel High back to Oakland High and then to home schooling before winding up at Holloway in December, right around the time he moved out. But he remained determined, using his struggles at home to motivate him in his education.

Now living in Smyrna, he has been selected as a recipient of a Bootstraps Foundation scholarship. The scholarship was created in 1986 by Irby Simpkins, publisher of The Nashville Banner, and Ray Danner, chairman of Shoney's Inc., as a way to assist young people who had "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps" and still managed to continue and pursue their education.

Holloway Principal Sumatra Drayton said she's been impressed by Gooch's ability to rise above his circumstances.

"I asked him what was really going on, what his story was," the principal said. "He told me a little about his home life, that when things were really bad, he'd go to the library until they closed. This is a teenage boy who chose to go to the library. I was just amazed that he had that much maturity to not put himself in situations that might make a bad situation worse."

While Gooch's childhood has been difficult, he's grown up quickly. And the lessons he's learned from life will serve him well in college and in his future career.

In the meantime, his story will teach the rest of us a thing or two about taking control of our own destinies.

"Take what life gives you," Gooch said in a recent interview. "Don't give up. Don't sell yourself short. The only person who can decide who you can be is you. That's what I tell myself when I look in the mirror every morning."